Hi.,
Welcome to my website. I hope you enjoy your visit. You may have popped along because you have read or want to read ‘Die Smiling’, a memoir detailing my husband Nigel’s journey from diagnosis of motor neurone disease to his death, ten years later, at Dignitas. If you haven’t read it yet, please don’t be put off – it’s nothing like as doom-laden as it sounds! In fact, it’s very funny in parts. Or you may have stumbled across this page by accident. No matter. You’re here now.
So first, a little about me. Sadly, as the previous paragraph indicates, I am a widow. But happily, I got to share forty-two fabulous years with Nigel – my funny, joyful, incomparable husband, soulmate and best-friend. I am mum to a charismatic son very much like his father and two delightful daughters, also very much like their father, with a tiny bit of me chucked into the pot. And, as you might expect, all three’s distinctly unique personality traits, that have nothing to do with me or their father, whizz around the melee, unchecked and undeterred. I am a proud grandma to two grandsons and two granddaughters, all vigorously forging very different pathways and climbing their individual mountains in pursuit of their own destiny. And finally, I am a ridiculously doting great grandma to a wonderful great-granddaughter, whose primary purpose in life is to sprinkle joy into the lives of all others.
I live in the stunningly beautiful seaside town of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, with my beloved miniature schnauzer: Bodger. I say ‘my’ – he is the owner, not me.
I have always loved to write. When the grandkids were small, I would invent stories and adventures where the grandkids played the heroes. I’ve penned several poems, mainly presented as framed gifts to mark special occasions in my family’s lives. I assume they like them as the words still grace their walls, even though one of them is hanging in the loo. Around thirty years ago, in the pre-digital age, I wrote a children’s book called The Land of Lost Money. The 80,000-word tome never got to do the rounds of publishers as I landed a full-time job at the local further education college and The Land of Lost Money got lost in a cupboard.
I spent the next 23 years at the college, fulfilling various roles, evolving from teaching to a host of management posts. I hold a Teacher’s Certificate in Education and an MA in Management from the University of York.
My career ended unexpectedly in 2007, when Nigel, was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. I became his primary carer. Nigel’s positivity, irrepressible humour and pragmatism throughout his illness, and his determination to take control of his death, is the inspiration behind the memoir Die Smiling.
In 2011, I started a blog, searching for the humour in our every-day existence and detailing aspects of Nigel’s experience, which later informed Die Smiling. I am a member of the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Dignity in Dying. It is my greatest wish that Nigel’s story contributes to changing the law on assisted dying in the UK.
The Land of Lost Money is no longer lost in the cupboard and is currently enjoying a thorough make-over.
Julie x
